If You Truly Love Someone
by Yoshio the Hedgehog
Summary: Sonic and Amy enter a virtual world to see if they can get travel it for a prize. It is so well created...Maybe a little too well. -SonAmy- -M for things that will spoil it if I say and/or safety- -Genre subject to change as I reveal more chapters-
1. Prepare for Anything

_IT IS THE BEGINNING OF A FANTASTIC STORY! JOURNEY TO THE CAVE OF MONSTERS! GOOD LUCK….oh wait, wrong story. Anyway, this is the beginning of a…HOPEFULLY fantastic story. The last one was, so I hope this one will be just as good or better. Here we go!_

**If You Truly Love Someone…**

_Chapter 1_

Amy was having a moment in her apartment. She had her stereo turned up pretty loud, and she was dancing by herself to songs that reminded her of her favorite thing in the whole wide world. Oh, and she was also singing along.

"So it's gonna be HEADS UP, HEADS UP: They're gonna get MESSED UP, MESSED UP for makin' you cryyyy…."

The young girl was enjoying herself, although maybe a little loudly. One of the people in the room next to hers was getting a little angry, but Amy didn't care. She wanted to show her feelings, no matter who was or wasn't listening.

"And please don't you GET DOWN, GET DOWN, cause you were no LET DOWN, LET DOWN, I won't say goodbye!!"

Somewhere in her subconscious she realized that the song was about a girl who broke up with her love, but she only picked it for the chorus.

"IIIIIIIIIIII, got your back until I, diiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee, I don't CARE if you don't want me sticking by, I'll keep ten feet behind just to walk you home…"

Amy would too, if she had to.

"And IIIIIIIIIII'm gonna protect you 'till I, diiiiiiieeeeeee, I won't let nobody hurt you again, I'll fuck up your next girlfriend if she breaks your heart…"

The girl continued dancing happily while thinking of her drive in life; her reason for being. The one who she would protect no matter what, she would love until she couldn't love anymore, and then some.

After the song ended, Amy fell back onto her bed and was breathing a little heavily. She smiled and wiped her forehead.

"Wow, that's a workout…" She sighed. "I wonder what song is gonna be next…"

The CD moved to the next track. When the music started, Amy's eyes lit up. This was her favorite song out of all of them.

"Anywhere you waaannaaa go, anything you neeeeed to know, all the best in life, I wanna get it for you…"

Amy was singing truly from her heart.

"Baby I just feeeeel so fine, I imagine thaaaat you're mine, in my world you're gold; I only want to protect youuuu!

This particular song had a lot of semimetal value to her; it was the one song she found that truly expressed her feelings.

"Whatever I want, I get, I want shooting stars, whatever I need, I have when IIII'm with youuuu…"

The entire world around her seemed to melt away, and Amy was floating whimsically while keeping one thing in mind.

"Follow me inside, outside, through the stratosphere! The moon is shining for youuuu, knows that I adore youuuu! All of a sudden, all the, sadness will slip away, and you will see what I mean…"

And there he was in her mind.

"…If you just follow me in my dreeeeaaaaamms!!"

The mere sight of him, even if it was just her imagination, filled her with happiness and a feeling that she could do anything.

"I was searching everywhere, suddenly I saw you there, and my love arrived; just in the nick of time! Life floats on a movie screen; you're the star of my scene! Live on the edge of a knife; larger than life!"

His smile; Amy just melted away at it. When she saw it, anything that could possibly be wrong with her life would just melt away and instantly be better.

"Whatever I want, I get, No one could take your place, whatever I need, I have when I see your faaaceee!!"

Those sentences were VERY true for her; Amy was overflowing with love for him.

"Follow me inside, outside, through the stratosphere! The moon is shining for youuu, knows that I adore youuuu! All of a sudden, all the, sadness slips away, and you will see what I mean, if you just follow me in my dreeeaaaammms!!"

Amy filled that last note with as much love and energy as she possibly could, as if her love was listening right now to her. The passion she was feeling at that moment was flowing freely in the form of that song; and it was very loud and beautiful at the same time.

Amy fell back onto her bed once again, this time in complete bliss. All she could think about was him, and that was just fine.

"Oh, he's so great…I really would do anything for him…" Amy sighed to herself. "Anything at all…"

Of course, she could only be talking about one person. A certain blue hedgehog named Sonic.

The infatuated hedgehog grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it tightly as if it were Sonic himself.

"Sonic, oh Sonic…" She sighed. That's all she could really manage to get out; her mind was doing all the talking.

_That guy…He's so great. Such a good hearted and kind person, and cute too! I know he says he doesn't love me, but…Well, I don't see why that should stop me from loving him! I mean, there's nothing wrong with love, is there?_

She looked by her bed and saw a picture of him she had taken when they went on a picnic once. Sonic was smiling and a beautiful backdrop of a field with flowers was behind him. A nice snowy mountain could be seen in the background as well.

_He's always so carefree, and yet he can be completely serious if he needs to. I can't see any reason NOT to love him…Any "flaws" he might have only add to his perfection…_

Right then, Amy caught what she was doing.

_I'm fawning over him like a young school girl…Well, I AM only 12…But I'm more mature than that…Well, it can't hurt as long as I don't do it ALL the time._

Amy giggled at the thought. She was limiting herself, yet she was going to try and pass those limits whenever she could.

_Wow, I'm such a freak…ANYWAY…._

For another hour, Amy sat and thought of all the ways in which Sonic is perfect and fantasized about how many ways she would win his heart or he would admit love to her. The ways ranged from a simple passing on the street to a giant fantastic adventure where their love truly would shine.

It was only 3 in the afternoon, but if felt like midnight to Amy. But not in the sense that she was tired; it was more like she felt like she had gone through an entire day and was ready to stay up the entire night. Sure, the dancing was tiring, but she had newfound zeal just from thinking of Sonic.

Her trance was over in a snap when someone knocked at her door.

"Oh, that neighbor probably is going to complain about the music…" Amy mumbled when she realized that her CD was still playing. She quickly turned it down and went to the door and answered it.

"Listen, I'm sorry abo-" Amy stopped herself when she saw it wasn't the old man living next to her.

"Hey, Amy."

"Oh, Sonic!! What are you doing here?" Amy said with enthusiasm and hope. She knew it probably wasn't anything TOO serious or love-related, but there was always wishful thinking.

"Just wanted to stop by and tell you something. Can I come in?" Sonic asked in a friendly tone.

"Of course!" Amy replied happily, and let her love into her apartment. The two sat on the living room couch and faced each other.

"Can I get you something?" Amy offered.

"Nah, I just needed to tell you something. Ask, really. Thanks though." The blue hedgehog replied.

"Okay, then what is it?"

"Well, Tails showed me this paper that somebody handed him on the streets, you know, some flyer that you'd normally just throw away later. But this was different; it was an ad that was challenging a pair of 'able people' to make it through a challenge of some sort."

"Really…What kind of challenge?" Amy was starting to see where this was going.

"Well, it was a challenge to make it through a world of some sorts…It's supposedly all virtual, but extremely realistic, and those who make it all the way through get a prize." Sonic explained.

"What's the prize?"

"It didn't say, but it DID say it would be worth more than anybody could imagine. It also said in several ways…Which I don't get that part. BUT, the point is, I'd like to go check this out."

"Oh, well, I wish you luck then!" Amy told him. _Man, he's such a great guy. He's going to go off on an adventure just because he can, and I bet he's gonna be the only one to make it through without fail too. I would KILL to be his partner in that…_

"And I'd like for you to come with me."

Amy's heart skipped a beat as her thought was brought to life. "R-really?" She asked in amazement.

"Yeah, really." Sonic told her with his usual smile.

"Why me? I mean, you and Tails have been friends way longer than we have, and I'm sure there are more able people out there…"

"Well, Tails is technically too young, although I'm sure he would have done fine…The age limit is 12." Sonic explained.

"What about Knuckles?"

"Eh, he's a little hotheaded…The description said it could last a few days, maybe a week or two depending on how quick we are…"

"…Well, why me?"

"Because...Well, we're friends, right?"

"Of course!"

"And, well, you're the only one of my good friends who would actually be able to go anyway…" Sonic looked up with a smile.

"…This world, where is it?" Amy asked, now completely interested in going.

"It's been created in a building on some off island…I thought that we could fly the Tornado over. It was my plane to start with, after all."

"And how exactly is this going to work…?"

"Well, the flier said there would be details once we get there, but apparently we go into a seemingly empty room, but then an entire land is created in front of us, and we just have to traverse it and get to the other side."

"…How is that even possible?" Amy asked with wonder.

"I have no clue, but I wanna go check it out." Sonic said back. "So, you wanna come with me?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. When is this?"

"Well…uhh…I was SUPPOSED to tell you earlier…Because it's kinda…tomorrow." Sonic smiled sheepishly.

"…Well, I don't have any plans for a while anyway, so I'll be there!" The girl assured with a grin.

"Thanks, Amy, I knew I could count on you. I'll be by to pick you up at 9 am, and I'll bring everything we need camping wise, you just bring clothes and a sense of adventure. That ok?"

"Sure, I'll be ready then!"

Sonic smiled and nodded. "Alright, I gotta go now, but I'll see ya later."

"Alright, thanks for inviting me!" Amy smiled back and saw Sonic to the door.

After the door closed and she was sure Sonic was in the elevator, she squealed in joy.

"OH MY GOD THIS IS AWESOME!! DAYS AND DAYS JUST WITH HIM AND NOBODY TO GET IN OUR WAY…AAAHHHH!!" Amy was happier than she ever had been in her life. The thought of it was almost too much for her to handle. Almost.

She immediately calmed herself down a little so she could think about it properly.

_Ok, ok, calm down…This is so exciting…! I need to be ready though, it sounds like it's not going to be just a walk in the park for us, it's supposed to be an adventure…So I'll need to be ready for one!_

She ran into her room and flung open her closet. Amy picked out a pair of boots that weren't too worn yet weren't too new; something that would feel good to walk in for a while. She also pulled out durable adventuring clothes: A few pairs of jeans and some t-shirts. She didn't really center her wardrobe over the occasion that she would adventure all the time, but she figured those would work fine. Just to be safe though, she also pulled out some long sleeved sweaters and a jacket.

"Wait…we're gonna have to carry this around everywhere, aren't we…?" Amy realized as she was looking for a huge suitcase to put her many selections in. She sighed heavily and closed the closet.

She crossed the apartment and went to the closet right next to the door. She rummaged around in it until she found a nice big backpack. Amy brought it back to her room and packed the clothes into the pack. It was a nice backpack too – made for hiking.

"Hmmm…" Amy stood back to take a look at the backpack. She still had a lot of space left in other, smaller pockets, and she doubted she'd need THAT many clothes. So she went off to find other things that might help her. But she soon realized that Sonic could be bringing some of the same things, so she was at a loss of what exactly to bring.

Then, she had an idea.

"I'll call Sonic and ask him, I doubt he has EVERYTHING, or at least the space for it." Amy said as she picked up the phone and dialed the blue hedgehog's number.

It rang a few times, and then Sonic picked up. "Hello?" He asked.

"Hi Sonic! It's me, Amy, and I was just wondering what you were bringing, because I still have a lot of space in the backpack I found." Amy explained in a friendly voice.

"Amy, I told you, I got it covered."

"Come on, just tell me."

"Alright…" There were sounds like Sonic was ruffling through something. "…I got a tent, some food, a couple of flashlights and batteries for them…A can opener…A Swiss army knife, a couple blankets…A few band-aids…"

"Wait," Amy interrupted, "A 'few'?"

"Yeah, like a box of 15." Sonic replied.

"Sonic, what if something more serious happens than that?"

"Come on Amy, it's a _virtual_ world…" The hedgehog replied.

"Well, it's better to be prepared…Don't worry, I bring some more stuff." Amy reassured.

"More you have to carry, but ok." He chuckled.

"Anyway, keep going."

"Alright…I got a lighter…Don't really know why I put that in there, but you never know…Oh, two ponchos just in case it's that advanced…a sleeping bag for each of us…And that's it."

"That's all? Ok, sounds like we're pretty set then…I'll pack anything else I can think of and then use the rest of the space to take some off of your load." The young girl said.

"Oh come on Amy, I can carry it all…" Sonic tried to persuade her.

"No, that's a lot of stuff, and I have to pull my weight. Don't want to be getting into something we both can't handle anyway, right?"

"…Alright, but then I'm going to expect you to live up to what you just said."

"…What do you mean by that?" Amy asked with a slightly offended tone.

"Oh, uh, nothing, I didn't mean it like that…Sorry." Sonic apologized.

"It's ok, Sonic. Just know that I meant what I said."

"Alright, well I have to go now…"

"Ok then, I'll see you tomorrow." Amy concluded. They both said their goodbyes and hung up.

"Well then…" Amy mumbled to herself as she looked around. "Oh, right. First Aid."

She went into her bathroom and opened up the medicine cabinet. Seeing nothing there, she went into her bedroom and opened a drawer in the desk next to her bed. She smiled as she saw a white box with a large red cross on it.

Packing that away into her backpack, she looked around her apartment and found some twine, sewing materials, a few towels, a few durable bowls and a pan with utensils, a small battery operated lamp, some matches, and some rope. Other than that, Amy didn't really stock many camping or hiking materials. That, and she didn't know what the world would be, or how big it was, so she was thinking in a general sense.

There was still some space left in the backpack, but it was getting a little heavy. To attempt to get used to it, Amy spent the rest of her day with the backpack on as much as she could.

Eventually, walking with the items wasn't nearly as bad as it was; she could break into a short run even. Still, she would probably need a short rest now and then if they were to be traveling all day. She was sure Sonic wouldn't argue with that though.

Amy finally took the thing off for the day at 10:30 pm, and set it next to her bed.

"God, that thing is heavy…Well, at least it's not TOO bad…except that I'm going to have to carry more stuff…" Amy sighed in slight frustration. "The upside though…" Amy laid back on her bed, "…that FAR outweighs the cons. All that time with Sonic…" She sighed happily.

After brushing her teeth and changing into her night clothes, Amy packed away her toothbrush and toothpaste. She didn't know if there'd be any water safe enough to where she could use it, but it never hurts to prepare. While she was doing that, she packed a few other hygiene-related items that she couldn't believe she forgot.

Snuggling deep into her bed covers, Amy's mind ran wild with all the fantastic possibilities and wonder that was going to come to her the next day. At first she couldn't sleep, but all the thinking drifted her gently into a blissful dream representation of what she wished would happen.

Too bad dreams like that rarely come true.


	2. Welcome To The Land Of Wonder

_If you're strong, you can fly, you can reach the other side of the rainbow…It's alright, take a chance, 'cause there is no circumstance that you can't handle!! (P.S.: Who's Line points to whoever can see what I did here. And say "I see whut u did thar".)_

_Chapter 2_

Amy was already up by 7:30; she couldn't wait for Sonic to come. She grabbed a quick shower, something to eat, and rushed herself getting her shoes and backpack. By the time she was ready, however, it was only a few minutes past eight. So, she took the opportunity to sit on her couch and relax for a moment.

"Wow, this is going to be so exciting…I mean, I haven't gone on an adventure in a while, for one, but also…Sonic…" She sighed happily at the sound of his name, even though she was the one who said it. "Spending days alone with him, with nothing to rely on but each other…And, well, this…" Amy tapped the backpack with her foot.

She started to let her mind run wild again, all with thoughts of romance and joy, which ate up the better part of that hour. By the time Sonic reached her apartment, Amy had almost forgotten what she was waiting for.

There was a knock, and Amy answered it gleefully.

"Hey, Amy! You ready?" Sonic asked with enthusiasm.

"You bet!" Amy said back with just as much energy, as she started to walk out the door. She was stopped by Sonic, though.

"Whoa, hold on Amy, we gotta make sure we have everything first! I came here early on purpose to do that." Sonic smirked. "Just gotta make sure."

"Oh…" Amy said, sounding a little defeated, "Alright." She perked back up, seeing how it wasn't a big deal.

The two walked inside, and Sonic set down his backpack, which looked like it was about to burst.

"My god, how'd you carry that over?" Amy asked.

"Eh, it's not THAT heavy…It will be if I carry it ALL day though. Take some of it and stick it in yours." Sonic replied as he opened up the main pouch and began to pull out assorted items.

Amy packed them into her bag without having to stuff too much, and she also had to tie the sleeping bag Sonic brought for her to the top of the pack.

"That oughta do it…!" Amy said as she finished tying the bag. She put on the backpack and made a few short hops to see if it would hold, which it did.

"Alright, anything we need? It's gonna be a few days before we get back…" Sonic said with a wind of warning.

Amy thought for a second, and then had a question. "How much food did you pack?"

"About 4 days worth…" Sonic slowly said, contemplating it as he spoke.

"Hmmm…A little more wouldn't hurt." Amy said as she went to a cupboard full of canned goods. She packed in 3 more days' worth of food, and then deemed it too hard to put in any more.

"Well, now we have a week worth of food…maybe another day if we ration ourselves or skip a meal or two. Which I really hope we don't have to do." Sonic stated. He looked at the watch he was wearing. "And…it's time to go. What timing!" The hedgehog said with a chuckle.

"Alright then, let's go!" Amy said excitedly.

--

The two went outside with all of their gear and headed over to Tails' workshop, where he had the Tornado ready.

"Oh, hey guys!" Tails waved happily to the pair entering his workshop. "I got the Tornado all fueled up and in perfect condition for you!"

"Thanks, buddy!" Sonic said with a smile. "Sorry I couldn't take you along, you know I wanted to."

"Oh, it's ok Sonic. I'm sure you and Amy will get through just fine." The young fox replied, assuring Amy that he didn't doubt her either.

"Thanks, Tails." Amy told him.

"No problem." Tails told her.

"So, where's Knux? He's not even gonna see us off?" Sonic asked.

"He's off training for that thing he keeps saying is gonna happen, remember?" Tails reminded the hedgehog.

"Oh, yeah…He can be so weird sometimes. He's way too protective of that Emerald…But I guess he's in the right. Oh well. We gotta get going Tails, thanks for tuning up the Tornado."

"Wasn't trouble at all." Tails said as the two started for the plane, "But hey;" He called out before they got in. The hedgehogs turned around. "…Have fun, and come back in one piece."

"…Will do, little buddy." Sonic reassured his friend.

"Now get going, I don't want you two to be late! Who knows how many other people might be there!"

"Right." Amy and Sonic said at the same time. Sonic climbed into the Pilot's seat, and Amy climbed into the passenger seat that Tails had installed after the Tornado II was built.

Sonic pulled back and turned the biplane to face the door to the runway, which Tails opened with the press of a button on a remote control. The young fox stood waving goodbye as the plane picked up speed and eventually took off.

--

It was literally smooth flying as the plane sailed at a nice speed through the clear skies. They passed over the city, lots of countryside, and eventually the beach. Now flying over the ocean towards the coordinates of the island, Sonic put it on auto-pilot. There was nothing around for miles, anyway.

"So Amy, you ready?" Sonic said loudly over the sound of the engine.

"Yeah!!" The pink hedgehog replied back.

"Good!" Sonic smiled and held gave her a thumbs up. "When we get in there, we gotta make sure we stick together so we don't get lost, and we also have to make sure we take extra care NOT to get hurt or lose ANY supplies aside from the normal intake of food. What we have what we bring in and what we can make use of out there, nothing more."

"Okay, I understand."

"Alright then, we should be fine." Sonic smiled and laid back to enjoy the sunlight.

Amy was still extremely excited, and the anticipation was getting worse the closer they got.

_Ohhhhhhh I can hardly wait…! This is my chance to show Sonic that I can be reliable in any situation…This is my chance to win him over…No, that can't be my main goal. I know I really want that, but…Well, I have to think of him as well. I'm sure we'd end up on less-than-good terms if I put it on too thickly. I should just let HIM warm up to the idea by just being a good friend and companion on the journey. That's what got me to love him in the first place, anyway. He was just always there for me._

Amy tried to restrain herself from thinking, but deemed it useless.

…_Alright, he's also really handsome._

She smiled and stifled back a giggle, which was drowned out by the engine thankfully.

_I really have to watch myself…A few days could be a bad thing if I can't control my emotions…_

Deciding to act as mature as she could, yet still be herself, Amy was feeling good about the whole situation.

"Hey, Sonic!" Amy decided to make some simple conversation to pass the time.

"Hm?" Sonic opened his eyes and looked up.

"How big do you think this place will be?"

"I dunno, Amy…But it better be worth all the trouble I spent packing and getting ready!" Sonic joked.

Amy couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yeah, it better!"

"Look, there it is!" Sonic called out a few minutes later.

"Where?" Amy looked out the side of the plane and forward.

"Right in front of us!"

Amy looked hard, and then saw an object in the distance on the water. She smiled with joy and excitement as she saw it growing closer.

_This is gonna be great…!_

--

The Tornado landed without problem on the runway that was set up for any who decided to come by plane; right next to the dock and helipad. There was a large building right in the middle of the smallish island, and it was surrounded by a border of trees. Otherwise, there really wasn't much else.

"Well, we better head in if we want to be first in line!" Sonic said as he jumped out of the plane with Amy. She nodded, and the two headed to the front door.

They walked into a decent looking lobby area that had a sign that read "Participants wait in there" and had an arrow pointing to a door. Sonic and Amy walked into the door where they were met with a surprise.

"Knuckles? Rouge? Even Shadow!?" Sonic said out loud with astonishment as he entered the medium-sized room.

"Nice to see you too, buddy." Knuckles said as if he took the hedgehog's statement offensively, which caused Rouge to giggle a little.

"We're here because the same reason you are, although I doubt I needed to tell you that." Rouge told the pair of hedgehogs as they took their seats to wait.

"What about you, Shadow? Where's your partner?" Amy asked politely. Although she knew Shadow was good at heart, he still was a little intimidating to her.

"He's meditating somewhere…He'll be back any second." Shadow said without even looking. At that moment, the door opened and Espio walked in.

"Am I late?" He asked.

"No, nobody's here yet…" Shadow replied, again not facing who he was talking to.

_Odd choice…_ Amy thought to herself. _If anything, I thought Espio would have chosen Vector or…Someone that isn't Shadow. Maybe because Vector's loud sometimes…_ Amy again had to stifle back a giggle, which she successfully did this time without drawing any attention.

"Well, is this it?" Sonic asked everybody, "Is this all the people who's gonna come?"

"Apparently," Knuckles replied, "So I guess there won't be much competition."

Again, as if on cue, the door opened and an official looking red hedgehog walked in with a clipboard.

"Hey, everybody!" He started in an overly loud voice. "My name's Yoshio, and I'm gonna…Huh?" He stopped. "Is this all the people who showed up…?" He asked in a voice more suited to the number of people.

Everyone answered with assorted "yep"s and "Uh-huh"s.

"…Okay then. Well, this will make my job easier at least." The red hedgehog mumbled. "ANYWAY, I'm here to walk you through the basic details, then I'm going to choose a group to go. Ok? Ok." He walked in front of everyone and stood facing them all.

"Now, who is who's partner, first of all?"

Sonic and Amy moved together, Shadow and Espio stayed off to the side, and Knuckles and Rouge sat somewhat near the pair of hedgehogs, but a left a few seats in-between to make sure there was no confusion.

"Ok, good to see." Yoshio wrote something on his clipboard. "Names? You first." He pointed to Knuckles, who was the furthest left.

"Knuckles." The echidna simply stated.

"Alright…You?" Yoshio asked when he was done writing the name.

"Rouge the Bat, but, you can call me Rouge." She winked, trying to win the official over so she and Knuckles would have more likely of a chance.

"Alright then. How about you, guy who looks strangely like me?"

"Sonic's the name."

"And lemme guess: speed's your game?" Yoshio joked.

"Uhh…actually," Amy started, but didn't finish in fear of sounding stupid.

"…You're kidding. Well, whatever. I'm gonna need your name too, girl."

"Amy Rose." Amy said politely.

"Mkay…And you?"

"Espio."

"Espio…alright, how about you?"

"Shadow…" Again, Shadow didn't look at who he was talking to.

"…What's his problem?" Yoshio asked.

"Nobody knows." Sonic quickly said, which caused Amy to giggle a little and Shadow to shoot him a glare.

"I see…Well, you all seem to be friends, so I'm sure you won't mind as I go to do some business with the stuff I've already collected from you guys. Be right back." The red hedgehog left the room swiftly.

"Sonic," Rouge started, but was cut off.

"I know." The blue hedgehog said. "He looked like me, and it's weird, but maybe he just likes the style. Besides, he's red, and I'm blue."

The room stayed mostly silent, seeing how there wasn't much more to talk about anyway. Yoshio came back into the room and signaled them all to follow him, and to leave their things because they'd be back.

"Alright," The official started as he was walking, "This is basically what it is. You go in THOSE doors," he pointed to double doors, "and then wait while the world is being created, which will only take a minute, and then you're let free into it. You basically just have to get from point A, which is here, to point B, which is the other side. Everyone get it? Good."

He led them all outside.

"Alright, then, I want everyone to run to the beach and back when I say go. GO." He said abruptly.

At first everyone was a little confused, but they all complied. Sonic helped Amy along a little, meaning he sacrificed some speed, but that didn't really matter to the blue blur.

After they all returned from the short run, Yoshio marked more things on his clipboard.

"Alright, follow me." He said as he walked off.

The group was then led to a large dirt rectangle. "I want you all to do a running long-jump, using the line between this asphalt that we're standing on and the dirt as your jumping line." The red hedgehog stood off to the side on the line.

"Go."

Everybody gave it their best jump, Knuckles and Rouge even adding in a little glide to help themselves along.

"Hey, is that cheating?" Sonic called out when he saw the pair do that.

"No, it's called being smart, you should try it." Yoshio joked, but was shot a dirty look by Amy. "…I was just kidding, come on, lighten up…"

They group was led to many different random and short tasks, from climbing poles to crossing balance beams to throwing objects as far as they could. After the entire 'testing', everyone was led back into the room where they left their gear. Yoshio then left to do a short analysis and eventually pick the group who was to go.

This left a lot of time for banter and betting.

"I betcha we're gonna get picked!" Sonic teased Knuckles. "I creamed you all at the running part!"

"Speed isn't everything, blue boy, because I jumped furthest AND threw that rock the farthest." Knuckles smugly retorted.

"Well, I bet WE'RE gonna get picked out of all of you because we're not sitting here arguing about it, so we're obviously more suited for survival!" Espio butted in, while Shadow closed his eyes and shook his head in shame.

"Yeah, but in saying that, you just argued about it." Amy pointed out, which is why Shadow was sinking in his seat. Espio looked a little dumbfounded, but humbled.

"Well, I'm sure that the judge is gonna pick me and Knuckles because we're treasure hunters." Rouge said. "I'll give it to you that you and Amy would be able to cover FLAT ground, but when it comes to hiking and mountains, we take the cake." The female bat smiled at her own little victory.

Getting tired of the entire argument, Shadow wanted to show them all how they were wrong. "I can use Chaos Control. Beat that." The black and red hedgehog smirked.

But at that moment, Yoshio came back into the room. "Oh, they did beat that."

"What…?" Shadow said, sitting up.

"Yeah, you and the chameleon are what I like to call 'cheaters'. You have those rocket shoes, and can basically teleport, which breaks one of the rules of this contest, 'No cheap tactics such as floating, flying, teleporting, summoning, or anything else deemed unfair'. I don't care what you say, how many times you say you won't do it, you're out."

"But…" Espio started.

"No. Thank you. Come again. NOW." Yoshio turned towards the remaining two groups, who immediately stopped making faces at Shadow and turned as if they were doing nothing wrong.

"As for you guys…You two ALSO cheat in some way." He pointed at Knuckles and Rouge.

"What!?" The two said simultaneously. "How!?" Knuckles said in semi-rage.

"Well, when I told you guys to climb that tree, I saw you dig into it with your knuckles, and Ms. Bat here had her special boots make footholds, which breaks another rule, 'No having grappling hooks, rappel equipment, or otherwise any other means of scaling vertical or near-vertical surfaces and slopes', meaning no climbing walls."

"Where are all these rules, anyway?" Rouge asked impatiently as Sonic was laughing with Amy at their friends' misfortune.

"Right outside, you didn't see them? You can read them on your way out. Mkay, see ya."

Amy was bursting with excitement, because she knew what was coming next.

"You two…You ALMOST didn't make it. Speedy here would have been disqualified EXCEPT…" Yoshio looked at Amy. "You. I can tell that he's not going to just speed through and leave you behind. That, and the packs you two are carrying would tire even him out if he tried to run and carry you and keep all of your things."

Sonic smiled and looked at Amy with joy and excitement.

"BUT, that doesn't mean you can still do it whenever. There's going to be things watching you for any running above normal levels, you hear? If you do manage to break a normal level, we'll deny you your prize, UNLESS you don't really go anywhere. Which would mean running in circles or zipping around your campsite or something. Just don't overuse it, you know? Use common sense."

"Got it." Sonic said as he nodded.

"Alright then, you two are our lucky contestants! Follow!" Yoshio led them out of the room once again.

Sonic and Amy walked together with their gear to the double doors. The rest of the group followed behind them, just to see if they could watch the world be created at least.

They all were allowed to enter the large room, which didn't seem very large at first. At least not large enough to be an entire world.

"Watch this. Everybody stay still." Yoshio pushed a small button on a remote control.

Before their very eyes, a landscape started to form. It looked like pixels appearing, but there it was. Grass, trees, rolling hills, a blue sky, a sun they could actually feel heat from. Off in the distance were snowy mountains, and the entire thing looked as real as if they were outside.

"Welcome, to your world, which I like to call 'The Land of Wonder'." Yoshio said proudly. "You two are to get aaaalllll the way over there." Yoshio pointed to the mountains. "You'll know when you get there; There will be something very distinct."

Everyone was lost in wonder. They looked behind them; all they could see was a doorway, and seemingly more plains behind that, with an ocean not too far off.

"Now, I trust that you don't have INFINITE food, so you might want to go at a pace that will get you there in time. Now, there technically isn't a time limit, but if you're in here longer than a month, I'm required to find you, and most likely shut the world down. So don't just attempt to _live_ here; you're on a mission. Ok?" He turned towards Sonic and Amy. They nodded.

"Alright then, final words: Do you guys have a compass?" Yoshio asked.

Both hedgehogs looked at each other sheepishly.

"…Wow, I hope you make it through. Here." The red hedgehog handed them a simple compass. "It's not much, but it works. You guys wanna head east, just so you know. That's towards those mountains. Next, just know that this IS a simulation, and if worst comes to worst, you just have to shout out the words on the bottom of this page." He held out a slip of paper. "Don't say them now, but if you need to, just know that your prize won't be given to you."

"By the way," Amy asked. "What IS the prize?"

"Heh, you'll have to find that out for yourself." Yoshio smiled. "Now, we don't have all day, so I'm gonna let you two go at it. The rest of you, shoo. Get back inside." Yoshio herded everybody back through the doorway.

"Have fun!" He said as he closed the door, and the doorway was gone.

Sonic walked slowly over and felt where the doorway was.

"Nothing's there…Wow, I can't believe TECHNOLOGY made this…"

"I know…" Amy said with wonder. "It's more like magic…A dream…"

The two stood together, the vast world before them blowing their minds on what they expected it to be.

_It's so real…_


	3. Smooth Travel

_You see, my stories are better because I don't spend 7 paragraphs before and after explaining stuff like some people do._

_Chapter 3_

Amy and Sonic walked along in a straight path. Despite it being virtual, the entire world felt as real as can be. They sun was bright and shining, there was a very slight breeze every once in a while, and birds could be heard and occasionally seen.

"This is so weird…" Sonic said out loud.

"I know…This place is all supposed to be machine-made, but somehow…Just somehow they managed to do this." Amy replied. "Even the door was gone after that official closed it…"

"It's almost like magic." Sonic smiled and looked over at her. The sun glinted in the hedgehog's green eyes, and Amy's heart fluttered at the sight.

_Oh my god, he's beautiful…_

She quickly snapped out of it, and just returned his smile with one of her own.

"Hey, Sonic." Amy said casually.

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you chose me to go with you."

"No problem, Amy. None at all." Sonic looked ahead and closed his eyes for a second. Then he sighed happily. "Isn't a beautiful day out-err, IN here?" the hedgehog laughed slightly.

Amy laughed a little back. "Yeah, it's beautiful…"

The two walked at a steady pace across the nice grassland, taking in the beautiful view. It was easy going, seeing how it was almost quite literally a walk in the park. The hedgehogs still couldn't get over the fact about how real it was, and Amy was still excited to be with her love.

Soon they stopped for a small break; they figured that they had plenty of time, so they shouldn't push it. They picked a nice shady tree to set down their gear at.

"Whew, this place is big." Amy remarked with a sigh of relief as she set down her stuff.

"Yeah, no kidding. At least it's not raining!" Sonic smiled.

"Yeah, that would be less than good." The pink hedgehog smiled sweetly back.

_He sure is being friendly…Well, that might just be because he's my FRIEND…but I'd like to think otherwise._ Amy sighed happily.

Sonic noticed, and smirked. "Don't get TOO comfy, we're not stopping here for today."

"Wha-? Oh, right…Ok." Amy's heartbeat rose a little as she snapped out of her thoughts, but she quickly got a hold of herself. "We should enjoy it while we can, though."

"Well, I can't argue with that." Sonic took a look around. "Hey…Are those blackberries?" Sonic pointed at a bush not too far off, and zipped over to see. "…They are!"

"Oh, could you get me some please? Or…are they just virtual and we can't eat them?" Amy asked.

"Here," Sonic said as he zipped back to Amy, who was leaning against the tree, "Try one for yourself!" He offered his hand, which had several ripe blackberries in it.

Amy picked one and popped it into her mouth. "My god," She said as she swallowed it, "They're real…And so sweet, too!"

The two enjoyed a few more berries before setting back out. Ever surprised at the realism of the world, they found even the tiniest, most overlooked details fascinating.

Their travel kept on at a good pace for several more hours, and the two had come to the top of a gentle, yet large hill. It was getting late, as the sun was beginning to rest behind the majestic mountain range in the distance.

"We'll camp here, where we can scout out a path for tomorrow." Sonic stated, and Amy agreed.

They both helped set up the tent, and Sonic went to gather some firewood as Amy unpacked the sleeping bags and a meal's worth of food for dinner.

With camp set up, and a nice campfire going, the two could finally rest.

"Well, that was a good first day, I have to say." Sonic stated as he dug into the canned peaches he had. "How're you liking it so far, Amy?"

"It's wonderful, Sonic, thank you." Amy smiled. "I really can't begin to express how much I'm enjoying myself, actually…"

That was true; Amy felt as if she was in complete bliss. The day was as if her very dreams were coming true: a beautiful landscape, and Sonic there with her. Just the two of them.

"I know what you mean by that, Amy." Sonic said in a neutral tone.

"Hm…?" Amy turned and faced her love after being broken out of her thoughts yet again.

"Listen, I know the main reason you came is for me." He told her.

"W-where did that come from…?" Amy was wondering if she had done anything to provoke Sonic's sudden change of mood.

"I'm not trying to sound mad, I just…Well, forget it, we need to not fight if we're gonna make it through this place."

"No, Sonic, tell me. Please."

"…Well, just…Please don't try anything. You know what I mean. I invited you as a friend, and for an adventure. Not a date." Sonic sounded a tad bit cold.

Amy's hopes were slightly crushed, but she understood. "Ok…I wasn't planning to, you know…"

"…Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." The blue hedgehog said as he saw the complete lack of happiness on Amy's face. He leaned back, and then his eyes opened wide.

"Amy…Look up."

She was a little confused, but when she looked up, she gasped in amazement.

"That's so beautiful…!" She said quietly.

Above the two was a starry sky, dusted with many bright and twinkling stars. The moon was shining bright and full that night as well; it was as if it were a centerpiece in a grand art of some sort. Not a cloud in the sky, either.

A shooting star went by, and Amy made a silent wish.

_I wish that Sonic and I…no…I just wish that Sonic is happy for the rest of his life, no matter what. That's what I truly wish for…_

Looking up into the sky, Amy's eyes twinkled in the moonlight. Sonic looked at Amy for a moment and saw how happy she looked.

_Sometimes…Sometimes she really is kinda cute. I wouldn't say I love her, but…She's an ok girl._ Sonic thought to himself. _Only in the right light…_

Finally looking back at Sonic, Amy was again in bliss. "Sonic…" Amy started, "…actually, nevermind." She was about to say how romantic the night sky was, but thought better of it.

"…Ok then." The blue hedgehog said as he stood up. "We shouldn't stay up all night, we have a lot of hiking around to do in the morning."

"…At least a little longer? This sky is amazing…" Amy noted as she saw yet another shooting star go past. "You never get to see something like this in the city, and even the countryside usually has clouds, or at least not this many stars…"

"…Alright, but not too long." Sonic smiled at the innocence of Amy. He walked around the fire to where she was sitting, and sat next to her. "You don't mind if I sit here, do you?"

Sonic knew the answer, but he just wanted Amy to say it. "Of course I don't, be my guest!" She happily welcomed him.

The two hedgehogs looked up into the beautiful sky, and were both amazed on well everything was created. But eventually, they even lost thought of that, and were just marveling over how wondrous it was.

"Such a view…I wish we could stay here forever…" Amy finally said as she closed her eyes and sighed happily.

"I guess that wouldn't be so bad…" Sonic agreed. "I mean, our friends would have to be here too."

"…Yeah…Our friends…" The girl quietly mumbled. _It would be better if it was just the two of us, that way nothing could get in the way of our love…Wow, that was horribly selfish…But…It's true…_

Sonic decided to make no comment on that; he figured it would be better to keep on good terms with Amy so they would have the least amount of problems.

"Well," Sonic stood up once again, "It's about time we headed for bed." The blue hedgehog filled the now-empty can he was eating out of with dirt, and put it over the fire. Now smothered, only a few dying embers remained.

"Ok…But just wow." Amy was still amazed on how beautiful everything around them was. Even the view from the hill; the ocean could be seen in the distance with starlight twinkling off of it, and the other side of the hill had what looked like a river, as well as the reflective snow of the mountains.

"This place is just picture perfect…"

"I know, Amy, but-" Sonic started, but was stopped by Amy.

"-we have to keep going. I know." She sighed. "Well, let's go." She stood up, brushed herself off, and headed over to the tent.

"Sorry Amy, but we have to." Sonic tried to comfort her.

"…I never said that was a bad thing." Amy winked as she unzipped and went into the tent.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Sonic followed her into the tent.

"Oh, nothing." She truly didn't know what she meant, but she wanted to see Sonic's reaction.

"Amy…You better not be hiding something from me." Sonic now was catching on a little, but still had his doubts.

Amy unzipped the top few inches of her sleeping bag and then sat inside it. "Maybe I am. Maybe not."

The blue hedgehog looked at her for a second, but then smirked as he had an idea.

"Well, I guess you don't get to know where I'm taking us tomorrow."

"…Wait, you were actually planning something?" Amy blinked a few times as her heart fluttered at the thought.

"Maybe." Sonic zipped out of the tent quickly.

"Wait, Sonic!!" Amy quickly got up and ran out, but the hedgehog was gone. "…Sonic…?"

"Yeeeessss?" Answered the hedgehog, but Amy couldn't find where he was.

"Sonic, come on, stop messing with me…"

"Alright then, have it your way." Sonic leaped out of a nearby tree and zoomed right past Amy, almost hitting her on purpose.

"HEY!! Sonic…!" Amy was getting a little frustrated, but she loved the attention. She decided to play along, so she ran after him. It was useless, but it made her feel like she was doing SOMETHING at least.

The two played around like that for a little bit longer, before Sonic finally let Amy catch her. They laughed about it, and went back to the tent to finally get some rest.

"That was great, Amy." Sonic laughed.

"Oh, you just say it was because you can outrun me." Amy bitterly yet playfully retorted.

"Duh." The hedgehog laughed yet again.

"Oh, you…" Amy got back into her sleeping bag. "…Hey Sonic."

"What?" He answered as he got into his sleeping bag as well.

"Why are you acting so differently? Usually you'd be ditching me at every corner just to get my blood to boil…Either that, or you'd take all the hard paths just because you can. Or SOMETHING…There's just something a little different about you."

Sonic stayed silent for a while, but then quietly answered. "I have my reasons."

"And those are…?" Amy prodded.

"Mine, hence the term 'my reasons'." Sonic smirked. "Good night, Amy."

"Sonic…"

"I said good night. Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite." Sonic laid down and rolled over to face away from Amy.

_That boy…Ooohhh he gets on my nerves with his unpredictability sometimes…And yet, at the same time, I gotta love him for it. Keeps things pretty interesting._

"You might wanna lay down, you can't sleep sitting up." Sonic said to her without turning around.

"…Good night, Sonic." Amy replied as she laid down. "…My love…" She added in a quiet whisper, as to not let Sonic hear.

_He's got his reasons…Whatever they could be…Maybe he's not feeling well? Nah, he wouldn't have gone on this adventure with me…With me…Hmmm, maybe…No…No, he can't, that's just me wishing and hoping…But then again, maybe he just wants to hide it. Maybe that's why he chose me…Yes…Yeah, I'm sure Shadow wouldn't have minded if he REALLY wanted to go, and neither would Espio I guess…And a lot of other people…_

Amy lay staring at the ceiling of the tent, a million thoughts running through her head at once, but all coming to one conclusion.

_...No. That's just me letting my mind run wild. He can't love me, he's my friend. Nothing more._

Admitting that made her heart sink a little bit, but she knew it was true.

_Well…We've got a lot of land to cover, and that's going to take a few days. A few days alone with someone could change up some things…I can always hope…But in the mean time, I've got to stay as helpful as possible. He can't love me if I'm not pulling my weight, not being his equal when it comes to work. We're in it together…And only together will we succeed._

Amy sighed and rested her head on the ground.

_Tomorrow…It's a new day, with new promises…_

Amy slowly drifted off to sleep to the sound of lazy crickets, a slight breeze now and then, and Sonic's slow but sure breathing, where she was met with blissful dreams of what may or may not lay in store for the young girl.

Little did the two know, but the journey was going to be a LOT harder than it was thus far.


	4. NotSoSmooth Travel

_Fun Fact: Tikal is dead. I just wanted to point that out, because I keep seeing a bunch of KnuxXTikal things…She's a spirit, and she's like a million years older than the rest of the people. The only reason she had a body temporarily in Sonic Adventure was the power of the Chaos Emeralds and the fact that Chaos needed to be stopped._

_Chapter 4_

There was an extremely loud crash. Both Sonic an Amy were jarred awake from not only the sound, but the tremor that occurred simultaneously. It was still late at night, about 3 a.m.

"What was that!?" Sonic yelled out almost instantly, completely alert. Amy just sat up and was breathing hard from the sudden jolt. The two both ran outside to see what had happened.

"…I see nothing." Amy said after a few seconds.

"…Maybe whatever it was got scared." Sonic started to joke.

"Yeah, maybe they…Sonic…Look!" Amy pointed up as she saw one shooting star after another appear, their numbers growing until it grew to an entire meteor shower.

He glimpsed up, but then noticed something off in the distance on the mountain.

"…Amy…" Sonic slowly said as a small puff of smoke was rising from the mountainside.

"Yeah…?" Amy was mesmerized by the beautiful astral display, and was hardly listening.

"…I think I know what the crash was."

A split second after Sonic finished his sentence, the sound of what Sonic saw was heard. Another crash. The two looked up at the sky, and saw red-orange dots falling at a very fast pace.

"GET EVERYTHING WE HAVE!! MOVE!!" The blue hedgehog barked out as he began to pack up as much as he could. Amy quickly responded as she realized what was going on.

Right as Amy finished getting everything out of the tent, another crash happened right next to them, as well as a sudden heat wave. The girl jumped and shrieked a little, but continued to secure everything as quickly as she could.

"Help me take down the tent!!" She called for Sonic, who had just finished packing his things as well.

CRASH!!

Things were beginning to heat up a little, but Sonic and Amy attempted to take down the tent anyway. They had the last pole out, when Sonic looked up suddenly.

"LOOK OUT!!" He screamed as he shoved Amy out of the way of a somewhat large meteor coming right for the pair.

CRASH!!

Amy was slightly disoriented, but quickly regained her senses. She looked to see the fare of Sonic, but only saw that the tent had been hit directly by the flaming projectile.

"SONIC!!" The girl screamed out frantically, now fearing for her love's life. She got up and searched around the immediate area as fast as she could.

"…Sonic!!" Amy found her love laying passed out somewhat close to the burning rock, but also found it hard to even approach him due to the immense heat. She clenched her teeth and ran in to pick him up as fast as she could. Her fur beginning to feel like it was going to catch fire, the girl struggled with Sonic, but eventually dragged him far enough away that he wasn't in immediate danger anymore.

"Sonic, wake up…!" The girl was beginning to tear up a little.

CRASH!!

Suddenly jolted out of her trance, Amy decided now was the time for action. She grabbed her pack of supplies and managed to lift Sonic as well. The supplies Sonic had brought would have to stay, though.

"I…have to get him to safety…!" Amy determinedly growled out over her strain to carry as much as she could. The girl walked at a semi-slow but steady pace away from the hill they were camping on.

The meteors were hitting more frequently now, and a few trees in the area had caught fire. Luckily, there weren't enough to start a total inferno of death, but it was still dangerous.

Amy considered herself lucky to find a small cave embedded into the other side of the hill; she decided that the rock walls would have to prove sturdy enough, considering she was already extremely tired.

Setting down her backpack, the young girl sat down on the hard, unforgiving ground with Sonic in her arms still. She sat for a moment looking at his face.

_Please be alive…_Amy held him close and a small tear fell down her cheek. _Oh god, please…_

She set him down on the ground and went for her gear. She went through it until she found the first-aid kit, and then opened it up. She rifled through it until she found the burn cream and patches with gauze and cleaner, then immediately went over to her love.

"Please let this work…" She mumbled to herself as the earthquakes grew in intensity and frequency.

Ignoring her own minor burns, Amy applied the contents of the tube to all of the singed spots she could see on Sonic, following up with cleaning his cuts. She placed a small patch and wrapped them all; it might have been a little unnecessary on a few cuts, but Amy was too shocked to care. All that mattered was getting Sonic as better as she could.

Sitting back and looking at her work, Amy felt a little more at ease knowing she did everything she could. Checking his breathing, the girl was relieved to see that he was just passed out and not something more serious.

"God…What have we gotten into?" She said as she peered out of the entrance to see the hail of fire still coming down. It was getting so bad that Amy could feel the heat starting to flow in.

Attempting to fix the problem, the girl unpacked as many non-flammable objects as she could and made a small wall out of them. Placing Sonic behind the wall, she hoped that would shield him from the heat at least a little.

"Sonic…" Amy began to speak to him, "If you die…I don't know what I'd do…I love you so much…Please be alright…" She laid a few feet away from him, and curled up and held her knees. She began to cry silently and slowly drifted off to a tormented sleep.

"_Amy…" A voice called out. "Amy…"_

_She turned around and saw Sonic standing there, smiling._

"_Amy, I want to thank you for helping me." He said calmly._

"_You're more than welcome, believe me…" She replied as she went to hug him. However, she was stopped by Sonic's hand._

"_No, Amy, I can't…"_

"…_Why not?"_

"_It's…too late for me."_

_Just then, Sonic's fur began to singe, and Amy could clearly feel the heat suddenly radiating from his body._

"_This is…my damnation…!" The blue hedgehog dropped to his knees, and then he suddenly burst into flames._

"_SONIC!!" Amy jumped back suddenly and was completely shocked at what she was watching._

_The hedgehog screamed out in pain. "THIS…IS HELL!! PAIN, SUFFERING, DAMNATION!!"_

_Amy could do nothing but watch as her love burnt right in front of her. His skin was lit now, and the odor was absolutely foul._

"_YOU…BITCH!!" Sonic suddenly screamed out. "YOU DID THIS TO ME!!" Sonic stood up, and Amy could now see his muscle and some tendons underneath his melting skin._

_Amy backed up slowly, but couldn't manage more than that. "S-Sonic!" She choked out._

"_YOU WILL BURN IN HELL WITH ME!!" His ribs and beating heart were showing now, as well as a majority of his skull. The blue hedgehog grabbed Amy's shoulders, and she screamed out in pain as she was lit as well._

"_AMY!!" Sonic screamed out._

Amy's eyes shot open, and they were full of tears. She was breathing heavily, and obviously distressed.

"Amy, calm down!!" Sonic said worriedly while holder her shoulders.

"Wha-What's going on…!?" The confused girl yelled out, looking around frantically.

"Get a hold of yourself!!" Sonic shook her a little. Amy then realized she wasn't dreaming anymore and stopped looking around. She was still breathing heavily and teary-eyed, however.

"S-sonic…?"

"It's me, Amy. Calm down, you're awake now." He tried to comfort her.

"What happened…A nightmare?" Amy began to breathe normally again.

"I think so. Either that, or you're possessed." Sonic attempted to joke a little to lighten the mood.

Amy didn't find it funny nor insulting, she just ignored it. "Are you ok, Sonic?"

"Am I ok? I should be asking that, not you. You were screaming in your sleep…"

"I'm fine, but are you?"

"…Yeah, Amy. I'm fine. Thanks for helping me out back there. I owe you one." Sonic grinned.

Amy sat up fully, and Sonic got up to stretch his legs. "Sonic, if this is supposed to be virtual, how did they manage to-"

"-Shoot meteors at us?" Sonic finished for her. He stretched his arms out. "I have no clue, but it wasn't cool. The last thing I remember before waking up here was our tent being completely trashed." He stretched upwards and held his breath, then let it out as he relaxed. "That means we're gonna have to sleep outside, or under natural cover from here on out…"

Amy looked down in her lap. Hearing something like that should have been a good thing, but the current circumstances proved otherwise.

"So, if it rains, or if another meteor shower…?" She began to ask.

"If it snows, lightnings, hurricanes, or if the sky falls, that's how it goes." Sonic sat back down in front of her. "Hey, by the way, what happened to all of my stuff? I only noticed your bag in here."

"Well, I could only carry you and one bag, and mine had the first-aid kit…"

"Yeah, I get it. Let's go up and see if it survived; I need to get out of this cave anyway." The blue hedgehog jumped up, then offered a hand to help Amy. She gladly took it and giggled a little.

"…What?" Sonic asked.

"He he…nothing." Amy stifled her giggling. _Can't ever keep that guy down…yet another reason why I love you, Sonic…_

"Well, let's go then!" Sonic led her out.

When the two walked outside, they were instantly shocked – the entire beautiful scene that was once there had been eliminated for miles. There was still the majestic mountain in the distance, but most of the grassy plain had been burnt and filled with craters.

They climbed the hill and back to the spot where their original camp was, and found a large crater right where the tent was. All that was left was a few charred stubs of the poles, and maybe a little scrap of cloth or two. The rest had been reduced to ash.

"Wow, we were lucky to get out when we did…There's way more craters than there was when I left!" Amy noted. It was true, before there were about 3 or 4 on top of the hill, but now you couldn't go 5 steps without finding one.

"Yeah…Strange how there seems to be more RIGHT on this hill than anywhere else…" Sonic added.

They looked around a little, and then Amy found what they were looking for.

"Sonic…I don't think your pack is going to be much use." Amy grimly said as she looked at the charred remains of Sonic's backpack. The hedgehog zipped over to see, and his expression turned to a disappointed frown.

"Well, that sucks, quite frankly…Let's see if we can at least salvage ANYTHING. It wasn't hit dead on, so maybe…"

The two rifled through the pack and found a couple cans of food that were unharmed, as well as the swiss army knife and can-opener. Other than that, the entire pack was charred beyond use, including the backpack itself.

"That means we have half the amount of food we started with…" Amy quietly stated.

"And that also means we're gonna have to hurry." Sonic told his companion. "We can't just sit here with only this much food left; who knows how much longer we're gonna be in here."

"…Right." Amy agreed as she stood up. The two started to go back down the hill, and Sonic had a grim look in his face.

"What's wrong, Sonic?" Amy asked casually.

"Ah, nothing…Just thinking. It's not important, we just gotta keep on trekking." Sonic answered a few seconds later. The two made it back to the small cave and had the two cans they found in Sonic's pack for breakfast, and then packed the two remaining items into Amy's backpack.

Before they left, Amy saw a small problem in having only one pack. "Who's gonna carry it?"

"I will, don't worry…" Sonic assured her.

"Not in the state you're in; you might not know it, but you were hurt badly last night." Amy warned.

"…Fine, we'll take turns. Ok?" The blue hedgehog smiled.

"Alright, but I get it first." Amy picked up the hiking backpack and put it on. "No complaining." Amy smiled teasingly and walked past her love. Sonic just shook his head with a smile and followed her.

The two barely had gotten 30 feet from the entrance of the cave, when yet another problem presented itself.

"The compass was in YOUR backpack, wasn't it?" Amy asked as the two walked along the charred warzone.

"Yeah…So was that paper with the safety instructions…" Sonic verified.

"Great." The girl said sarcastically.

"Let's just hope we won't need them…I mean, the mountains are pretty easy to see, and as long as something completely horrible doesn't happen, we shouldn't need to get out instantly…" The blue hedgehog explained.

"Wait, you wouldn't call what just happened horrible?" Amy asked.

"We're still alive and on our way, aren't we?"

"…Good point." They both laughed a little and kept walking.

After about an hour more of walking, the craters from the meteors gradually got farther apart until they disappeared completely. They had traveled out of the plains and gotten to a naturally dirt and small rock covered ground. Also, the sound of running water was increasingly apparent as they pressed forward.

"Would a river have lots of cover around it?" Amy asked eventually as they both knew what was ahead for them.

"I don't know, but if we get there early enough, we shouldn't care." Sonic replied.

"Why not?" Amy ignorantly asked.

"Because we're gonna have to cross it, duh." Sonic laughed at his own joke. Amy saw what she missed, and was a little embarrassed, but laughed it off with Sonic.

Despite what Sonic had said, getting to the river took longer than both of them had thought. And when they saw it, they realized why they could hear it from so far away.

"That has got to be the BIGGEST river I have EVER seen…" Sonic said nervously.

"Yeah…And we have to cross that thing?" Amy asked shakily.

"…Yeah…Somehow…" Sonic gulped a little, but then shook it off. "It can't be that bad…I mean, we'll just find a shallow spot, or a narrow fjord or something."

Amy looked up in the sky and saw that the sun was beginning to lay down to rest behind the mountains. "Sonic, we're gonna have to deal with that tomorrow, because we have the issue of figuring out how to ration our food and where to stay for now…"

"…Sure. Can't sleep when we're all wet, anyway. Come on; let's go find a good spot."

Sonic and Amy walked alongside the river for about a half-mile before they found a very large tree growing about 20 feet from the edge of the water. Sonic deemed that it would do as a perfect landmark for camp, and Amy agreed. They set the gear down and Amy laid out all of the food they had.

"Alright, if we skip lunch and have one can each for breakfast and dinner, that leaves us with food for…" Amy thought for a moment. "…4 days."

"4 days, huh? And that's living on only a portion of what we SHOULD get in a day…Hm." Sonic leaned against the tree and thought about it. "If we find more berry bushes, or some other source of food, that could substitute for lunch, or maybe even save us a can for dinner or breakfast…"

The two hedgehogs sat in silence for a moment, and Amy really let what had happened sink in.

"Are…Are we going to live?" Amy asked a little shakily.

"What?" Sonic replied in disbelief. "Of course, don't worry about a thing."

"But…But what if…?"

"Amy, there is no what if." The hedgehog interrupted her. "Just keep your chin up, and live for the moment. We'll make it through, no sweat. I mean, it's only a simulation, right? I'm sure that if something really did go HORRIBLY wrong, they'd shut it down."

"…Then the meteors?"

"Probably just to scare us, see if we have the will to continue."

"…Well then how did they burn you and destroy our things?"

Sonic sat up and then put a hand on Amy's shoulder. Her heart jumped for a second, but she calmed herself.

"Amy, nothing will happen. I give you my word." The two smiled as their eyes met. "Now settle down and relax, we got a big day tomorrow. And the next day, too!" Sonic laughed lightly at his own joke, and Amy just sighed with a mix of joy and confusion.

_Seriously, Sonic. You can't ever be beat…Nothing can dampen your spirits for long._

The two set up their meager camp, which consisted of the sleeping bags on the ground, and the extra blankets folded up for pillows or extra warmth. The tree would act as cover, although there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

As they got ready for bed, Sonic noticed that Amy had been noticeably quiet. More than usual, she would at least hum a song to herself in times of long silence.

"Hey Amy, what's up?" He asked in a casual tone.

"…what? Oh, nothing…" The girl folded her legs underneath herself and looked into her lap.

"Come on, Amy. We're the only two out here, and we need to stay open if things are gonna run smoothly. So come on, tell me."

The girl sat for a moment, and then finally spoke up. "…It's just…Well, what if we don't make it? What if something terrible happens to us…?"

"Amy…" Sonic started, but he was cut off.

"Or even worse: What if something happens to you, but not me? What if I'm left alone after watching you die?" The girl was beginning to shake a little. She had thought herself into a torment.

"That's enough Amy." Sonic stopped her. "Nothing is going to happen, I mean that. Again, none of this is real."

"But…It is, Sonic. If you didn't know it was a simulation, you would never have guessed…"

"Listen, I swear on my supersonic speed and overall awesomeness that nothing, and I repeat, NOTHING, will happen to us."

"But…"

"AND, if something DOES happen to us, which it won't, I'll make sure you get out safe. Which, in turn, will get me out, so nothing WILL happen to us!" Sonic somewhat contradicted himself, but he made his point.

"…Alright, I believe you." Amy quietly said, then looked up with a faint smile. "I feel safe just knowing you're here with me, anyway…" The girl stopped herself from saying what she wanted to finish with, but her mouth still was moving.

Sonic, being able to read lips well enough, got the message. It was an 'I love you'.

"Yeah, ok…" Sonic shuffled into his sleeping bag and turned the other way. "We need to rest up so we can get going tomorrow. Night, Amy."

Amy realized her mistake and cursed herself silently, but got into her sleeping bag nonetheless.

"…Good night." She replied.

_Sonikku…My love._


	5. River

_Wow, I completely forgot about this because of a lot of things going on in my life, until someone reviewed it. So, happy Halloween, and I'm off to eat way too much candy. Hopefully._

_Chapter 5_

Amy's ear twitched. The golden sunlight poured onto her face, and she squinted through her eyelids. The pink hedgehog turned over and grumbled inaudibly. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with the sleeping figure of Sonic.

She yawned broadly and looked at him through sleepy eyes. "Sonic…So cute…" She whispered gently, as to not wake him. She sat up slowly and stretched, yawning once more. The girl looked around at her surroundings, remembering why she was there and what they had to do.

"The river…Comes later." She murmured. She got up and went over to her pack. _For now, I'm going to give Sonic a little surprise…_ She smiled and pulled out a little food.

The hedgehog looked at the can she pulled out. It was some canned fruit. She opened it and poured it into a bowl, which was just big enough for a serving. She opened another can and poured it into a second bowl, for herself

"There's gotta be some way I can make it better for him…I…Hell, I just want his smile." Amy sighed happily. The girl thought about it for a moment, then decided to meticulously pull out the cherries from her bowl and add them to Sonic's. She always thought the cherries were the best part.

Satisfied with her work, and making sure the bowl of canned fruit was "perfect", she gently walked over to the sleeping Sonic and sat on her knees. She gently shook his shoulder.

"Sonic…Wake up…I made you breakfast!" She spoke sweetly and innocently.

"uuggghh…Five more minutes, please…" Sonic replied sleepily as he rolled over.

"Sonic, wake up!" Amy said again, laughing at the situation.

The blue hedgehog sat up and yawned at the same time. He blinked a few times and then looked at Amy. "Hey, Amy." He said with a smile.

Amy smiled back. "Hey." She picked up the bowl of fruit. "I got you some breakfast." She smiled as she offered it and a fork to her love.

"Aww, thanks Ames." He smiled and gratefully took it.

Amy smiled, being thoroughly happy with the result. "You're very welcome." She took up her own bowl. _Ames…_ She ran that name through her head several times, and then deduced that it must be an affectionate way of saying her name. She already knew that, however, she just liked the thought, and the thought of taking it further than it probably was.

"…You gonna eat too?" Sonic asked jokingly.

Amy looked up quickly and blushed slightly. "Y-yeah." She laughed nervously. To lighten the mood, Sonic laughed with her. She began to eat, and deemed the morning an overall success as far as making up last night's small slip up to Sonic goes.

After eating, the two rolled up their sleeping bags and packed up into the bag. They got up and were ready to go.

Sonic took in a deep breath and let it out. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" He asked his friend.

"Mmhmm!" Amy smiled and nodded. The sun was out, birds were singing, and there were only small traces of clouds in the sky. Yet another picture perfect day.

"Well. It's time we cross this river." Sonic turned towards the running water and looked it over with a neutral expression.

"…You sure we can do it? Maybe there's a bridge somewhere…" Amy tried to avoid the idea of actually crossing the river. Not for herself, but for the fact that she knew Sonic wasn't the best swimmer.

Despite knowing this himself, Sonic wasn't about to lose face in front of anyone, even his friends. "Nah, we'll cross it. No problem." He smirked and walked up to the bank.

Amy walked up beside him, and the two looked at the wide river. It wasn't the deepest river, but it was deep enough to go up to Amy's neck, and it looked fairly strong to boot.

"Well, we got no choice but to wade, right?" Sonic looked over at Amy. She looked back at him, and hesitated, but then nodded firmly.

"Just one question, Sonic."

"…Shoot."

"How do we do this? You're taller than I am, and I'm not sure my head can stay about that water all the way through…"

Sonic looked at the water for a moment. "That…That, and those rocks could be slippery…Ah, we'll be fine."

"Sonic." Amy firmly said. "Being brave doesn't always mean just going in headfirst without thinking." She looked at him with a cautious eye.

The headstrong hedgehog just looked back at her and smirked with his trademark smirk. "We'll be fine. Now come on." He took his shoes off and put them into the pack. Amy followed suit, and the two waded into the shallow part of the river.

Amy shivered a little. "Jeez, this water's cold…" She grabbed her arms and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Yeah, no kidding." Sonic replied. "It's probably coming off that mountain…" Sonic pointed at a large, snowy mountain that was about a day or two's travel away.

"Yeah…hold on…" Amy took a better look at the mountain. "Wasn't that farther away…?"

"Probably just an optical illusion. That's not our problem now though." Sonic looked ahead to the other side of the bank. He stared at it for about 30 seconds in silence, thinking hard about how he was going to make the easiest way across.

"…Sonic? We going anytime soon?" Amy asked, her feet becoming numb.

He snapped out of his trance. "Oh, yeah, yeah…Just…just thinking. Let's go." Sonic started to trudge through the water, but Amy grabbed his arm and stopped him. He looked back, almost irritated.

"Sonic…" The girl looked into his eyes. "I'm here for you." She smiled supportively.

The blue hedgehog looked at her with a neutral expression, but then smiled softly when he realized what she meant. "Thanks, Amy. Now, come on, we don't have all day." He smiled again and turned back towards the water.

"Hey, Sonic, one more thing." The blue hedgehog turned once more. "How are we gonna carry this pack? It's pretty heavy, and I don't think it should get wet…"

"…Hmm…Ah!" Sonic snapped and his face lit up. "We'll carry it between us, that way it won't be as heavy."

Amy nodded, and she lifted it above her head. Sonic took the other side, and the two spaced themselves out so it was as comfortable as possible to carry.

"Alright, now come on Amy!" Sonic called out as he began to walk forward. The girl followed his step almost perfectly, and they wadded deeper and deeper into the river.

They were up to their chests, and it was very apparent to the both of them that it was ice water fresh off the mountain. Their feet were already numb, and Amy was shivering. Sonic tried as hard as he could to stop himself from doing the same, but by the time it was at his armpits, he couldn't help it.

The two were in the middle of the river now, and the water level was right up to Amy's chin. The sheer force of the water pushing against their numbing bodies wasn't a good thing either; Amy was beginning to feel as if she wasn't going to hold up.

_Come on, just a little further…We're almost there…_

She closed her eyes and continued trudging through the water. It was slow moving, mainly because of the freezing water combined with the force pushing them to the side. Both hedgehogs were now feeling worn out from the short minute they were in the river, but it was too late to turn back.

Throughout this ordeal, despite Amy having a hard time, Sonic was having a worse one. Sonic was never a good swimmer, and naturally he tried to avoid water. Being in a freezing deep river made it even worse. The blue hedgehog not only was numb from the cold water and weakened by the current, but his own psyche was dragging him down, and his mind wanted him down as well.

_I can make it, I can make it…Oh god, I can't leave Amy alone, I can't fall, I can't…I gotta stay standing, keep moving…I…_

Sonic closed his eyes tightly and took the next step. But, within that step, the water seemed to shove harder than it had been.

Amy, fighting to stay up herself, lost it. She saw the fall with extreme horror, and immediately gave out and dove for him at the same time, not thinking for her own life.

"SONIC!!!!" the girl screamed as she grabbed frantically for her love, tears being lost in the spray of water as she was instantly tasked with his safety.

The blue hedgehog tried to swim frantically to the surface, but to no avail; the current was sweeping him away, and his body was already numb to begin with. Amy, however, had found strength fueled by her love, and was ever alert and mobile.

Amy finally ran into Sonic's arm and immediately grabbed onto it. She pulled at him and barely got his head above the water, and Sonic took a sharp breath in.

"HANG ON!!!" Amy screamed as she desperately tried to fight the current and make it to the other side of the river. She attempted to stand up a few times, but the current was too strong and wouldn't let her get her footing back. Swimming slowly but surely, she struggled to keep Sonic and herself above the water level. The blue hedgehog tried all he could, but just couldn't swim well enough to help Amy any.

Several seconds later, the two flopped out onto the bank breathing heavily. Sonic coughed up some water, and Amy felt very weak all of a sudden. She collapsed on the ground and closed her eyes, still gasping for breath.

_Sonic…please be ok Sonic…_ She thought to herself repeatedly. _Please be ok…_

Sonic eventually crawled his way over to Amy and put an arm around her.

"Thank…you…Thank you…So much…Amy…" He said between his gasps of breath. He managed a weak smile.

The girl opened her eyes slightly and saw her love. She too, managed a smile, and even a sigh of relief.

"No…problem…" She replied.

The two sat on that bank for another five minutes, regaining their breath and strength. They eventually sat up, and looked back at the river.

"…Ok, maybe it wasn't my BEST plan…" Sonic said with a weak laugh.

Amy looked over in disbelief and laughed somewhat sarcastically. "You think?"

"Be quiet…" The hedgehog smiled.

"…Hey Sonic…"

"Yeah…?"

"…I think we lost our gear…"

The expression on his face turned from a weak joy to one of worry and slight fear. He looked down the river, and even up it.

"…Damn." Was all he managed to say after he realized the truth in Amy's words. "I guess we'll have to do without it…"

Amy leaned onto Sonic's arm, which he didn't have the heart to even begin to refute. "How are we going to manage that? I mean…We have no food, no blankets, no first aid…"

The blue hedgehog stopped her. "I'll think of something." He looked her right in the eye. "Don't worry. We just gotta keep moving, remember? Besides, less to carry, right?"

"…You're so…" Amy started, but she couldn't find the right word.

"…So what?" Sonic asked.

"So…So you." Amy laughed at herself.

"Well, who else am I supposed to be, Knux? Nah, come on, we got a landscape to cover." The hedgehog stood up and helped Amy to her feet.

"You know, our clothes are soaking wet too…" Amy noted.

"Yeah…And dirty." Sonic added.

"I guess we could wash them in the river now, but I don't know about later…"

"How about you go 100 feet up the river that way, and I'll go 100 feet down the river this way. You wash your clothes there and let them dry, I'll do mine over there. We'll meet up in about an hour. Okay?" Sonic smirked.

Amy giggled a little at the thought of Sonic washing his clothes in the river. "Okay." She smiled back and started to walk upstream.

Sonic couldn't help but look at the way she walked for a moment, but then shook his head. _Come on, keep it together buddy._ He thought to himself before turning off and walking down the river to wash his own clothes.

--

The two met back up like they said, and walked off together from the river. Not burdened with any supplies, they could move at a quicker pace. The day was only about half over since their river expedition, and they were going at a good pace now. However, both hedgehogs had the subject of food and shelter on their minds. Neither of them knew what they were going to do.

About 3 hours of walking on a mildly grassy plain, they started to get to rocky land again. This time, however, instead of going down towards a river, it generally was going up.

"Hey…wasn't that mountain further?" Amy marveled as she realized that the mountain appeared way closer yet again.

"Again, probably an illusion. Either that, or some of my speed rubbed off on you." The hedgehog smirked and they continued on.

Just a little later, the two came across very lucky thing.

"Peaches!" Amy exclaimed as she ran over to the tree that was oddly growing out of the rocks.

"Weird…it's a bit cold for peach trees…" Sonic remarked.

"Whatever, it's just getting late. That, and don't argue with food when we don't have any." Amy began to climb its branches to reach at the succulent fruit.

"I guess we camp here." Sonic smiled at the extreme enjoyment that his friend was getting out of the fruit.

"Uh, of course we are! Peaches!" She smiled as she bit into one. The juice flowed out and was a perfect sweet flavor that made Amy melt away in pleasure. She swallowed the bite and tossed a peach to Sonic. "Try one!"

The hedgehog caught the peach and took a bite. "Wow, these are good…And this is SIMULATED?"

"Psh, who cares! PEACHES!!!" Amy laughed as she picked a few more.

"…You ok?" Sonic laughed.

Amy just laughed back and leaped out of the branches and landed safely on the ground. "Sorry…I'm just happy."

"Nah, it's ok." The blue hedgehog smiled. "Happy is good."

The two settled down and enjoyed their dinner of sweet peaches. They had skipped lunch, so it was very welcome to have a tree full ripe fruit. They ate their fill, and then sat next to each other in the growing shade of the tree.

"Those were probably the best peaches ever in the history of forever…" Amy sighed in happiness.

"Seriously…" Sonic nodded, then sighed. "I know you're happy and everything, but we still need a place to sleep…"

"Well…" Amy started, "we could just rest here…I mean, we're not high enough in the mountain for it to get freezing…right?"

"Yeah, you're right…not going to be the most comfortable night though…" Sonic closed his eyes and began tapping his foot.

"…Watcha thinking about?" The pink hedgehog asked her love.

"Mmm, stuff…Doesn't matter." The blue hedgehog sat up. "Let's set-oh wait. I forgot. Heh." He smirked again.

Amy smiled back. "Pick a comfy ground spot?"

"Yeah, that."

They both laughed for a moment, and then smiled.

"I really do wanna thank you for bringing me along…" Amy said as she made herself as comfortable as she could on the ground.

"No problem, Amy."

"I don't care how hard it's been so far…" She continued, "…I'm just glad you're safe and still with me."

Usually, Sonic would reject Amy's attempts to show romantic love to him, but this time he decided to just accept it.

"…I'm glad too." Sonic looked at her and smiled. "I mean, what am I going to say if I don't come back without you?" He smirked, indicating it was a joke.

"I guess you'd say I died of wonder at how well this whole place was put together." Amy laughed lightly.

"Yeah…I'll be sure to do that." Sonic laid down and looked up at the starry sky. "We should really sleep, you know…it's really late."

"Yeah…I guess." Amy laid down as well.

"'Night Amy."

"…Goodnight, and sweet dreams Sonic." Amy looked over at Sonic, who was still facing upwards.

_And stay with me…Never leave…_


	6. The Going Gets Tougher

"_If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight!" – Sun Tzu said that._

_Chapter 6_

"_Amy, why do you think I brought you along?"_

"_I…we're friends?"_

"_No, Amy…we're not."_

"_Sonic…?"_

"_We're…more."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Much more…"_

Amy sat up quickly as an extremely loud sound woke her up. Sonic was soon to follow, but he was a little more lazy about it.

"What's going on…?" Sonic quickly but sleepily yelled out.

Lighting struck out again. The sky was dark with ominous clouds, and it was very apparent that the weather wasn't going to get better any time soon.

"That doesn't look good…" Amy quietly said as she looked at the dark storm before them.

Sonic, now fully awake, nodded. "Yeah…We better get moving. We don't wanna be caught in that…"

"Or at least make it as far as we can before we do." Amy noted as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

"True." Sonic got up as well and stretched a little. He looked up at the sky and grimaced. "Why now…?"

Amy stretched upwards and let out a sigh. "I don't know, but like you said, we gotta get going, right?"

"Yeah." Sonic smirked. "Let's go."

The two walked away from the peach tree and towards the increasing slope of the mountain. In the very spot they just stood, a small drop of water landed on the ground.

The two walked with haste; they wanted to get as far as they could in the day before it was too tough to safely continue. The dirt path was fairly easy, but it was also at an incline, making the overall effort harder. Although it was morning, the sky was nearly as dark as night; the resounding sound of thunder and the flashes of lighting were forming a very foreboding and somewhat scary atmosphere.

"Sonic, I don't like this…" Amy spoke up as they hit a small stretch of level ground. "I don't like this at all."

The blue hedgehog looked back with slight confusion. "Why not? Rain isn't going to kill us…"

"It's not that. It's this entire thing." The girl slowed down for a moment, but the picked up speed again.

"Listen Amy, I told you we're going to be fine…" Sonic looked up at the sky as he walked. "I mean, what if it doesn't even rai-" He stopped in mid sentence as a drop of rain hit him square in the eye.

The two stopped and stood in silence for a moment. A drop hit Amy as well.

"Hurry." Sonic calmly ordered as he picked up his pace immensely. Amy of course followed suit, but her mood was the same, if not worse.

Going at a moderate jog, the two made their way up the dirt hills while slowly becoming wetter and wetter. The rain picked up slowly, but definitely surely. In a matter of minutes, it was pouring rain like no tomorrow, and the hills were becoming very muddy. To top it off, the thunder mixed with the constant patter of rain made for a deafening clamor.

"SONIC!!!" Amy yelled over the din of the heavy weather.

"I KNOW!!!" Sonic screamed back, assuming she was going to ask for a place to stay. "I'M TRYING!!!"

"NO, I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!!!" The girl screamed back as she almost lost her balance on the mud hill.

"LATER, KEEP GOING!!!" The blue hedgehog brushed her off, focusing only on making it to the top of the hill they were on.

"NO, I NEED TO TELL YOU NO-AHH!!!" Amy shrieked as the ground underneath her slipped out of her step and sent her crashing to the ground.

Sonic quickly turned and saw his friend sliding quickly down the muddy slope.

"AMY!!!" He screamed out as he dashed down quickly to save her.

The blue hedgehog jumped in front of her and barely managed to stop her from falling any further, but fell over himself in the process due to poor traction. He picked himself up nevertheless, and worriedly turned to Amy.

"AMY!!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?" He screamed over the thunder that flashed at that moment. The only response he got was the sound of sobbing that was barely audible over the rain. The girl was also clenching her arm in pain.

"HOLD ON AMY!!!" Sonic screamed as he picked her up and attempted to make his way back up the mudslide of a hill.

He grimaced through the rain as he tired as hard as he could not to slip, but ended up doing so several times. Every time though, he made sure to not let Amy hit the ground or injure herself any more than she already had; he couldn't let anything happen to her. In turn, however, Sonic ended up hurting his own knees and back several times in place. He sucked it up and continued on.

Finally making it up the hill, the blue hedgehog dropped to his knees and dropped his head. Amy was still conscious, but very hurt. She clung to Sonic's neck lightly and buried her head into his chest. She tightened her eyes as lightning flashed once more.

"Amy…" Sonic said, but it was drowned out by the rain. Mustering up the rest of his strength, he stood back up and shakily moved on.

_Please…God please, let her be ok…Let US be ok…Damn, why her!!! WHY!?_

The hedgehog kept on the momentary flat surface and trudged through the heavy mud.

_I can't let anything happen to you…Nothing…Not one thing…_

Right before he came to the next hill, he noticed a path that went down instead. Taking a peek down the slope, he saw that it leveled out to a small platform and a crevice in the wall. Seeing the opportunity, the hedgehog very slowly and carefully made his way down the hill.

Making it down without any mishaps, he walked into the small crevice and was at last out of the rain. He walked to the back of the opening, which was about 15 feet from outside, and dropped down and sat.

It was a small cave-like place with no special features, other than the fact that it acted like some sort of shield to the overwhelming din of the weather.

Holding Amy in his arms still, Sonic leaned against the back wall. He sighed heavily, and shut his eyes tightly.

Just then, Amy began to move again.

"S…Sonic…?" She slowly but audibly said.

"…Yeah…?" Sonic slowly answered, dealing with his own pain.

"This…This place…It's too real…I don't like it…I don't like it one bit…" The girl turned her head and looked up at Sonic.

The blue hedgehog looked down at her, and was met with her tear-filled jade eyes.

"Amy…"

"Meteors…They have meteors. You almost died…" The girl was beginning to have her words break up as tears fell down her cheeks. "No machine could do this…"

"I…I know it's hard Amy, but…"

"No, there is no but!!!" Sonic was a little taken back by Amy's sudden lashing out, but listened all the same. "This kind of thing isn't just something you look over!!!" She coughed and cringed in pain.

The two sat looking at each other for a moment as the lighting and rain continued as hard as ever. Then Amy's expression softened as she saw the pain in Sonic's eyes. They were both covered in cuts and bruises, and most were ground in with dirt and stung horribly.

"You got hurt too…didn't you?" Amy slowly asked.

"Yeah…but it doesn't matter, you're more important." Sonic answered shakily, obviously trying harder to hide how hurt he really was.

"…Why would you say that?" the girl breathed in sharply as a sudden spike of pain shot through her arm.

"Because…" Sonic stopped for a moment and tried to choose his words carefully. "…Because you're important."

Amy stared at him for a moment, trying to make sense of what she just heard. _Is…does that mean what I think it means…?_

An abnormally close lightning bolt lit up the entire enclosure and made both hedgehogs nearly jump out of their skin.

After settling down a little, Amy looked back at Sonic, still in his arms. She closed her eyes tight and buried her face into his chest again.

"No more…I want to go home…" the girl began to sob slowly. "This isn't a contest…It's suicide…"

"I…I know what you mean, Amy…" The blue hedgehog slowly replied after taking in the entire situation. "But…We have to make it through. There's no other way out…"

"Either that, or we die trying…" Amy hugged Sonic a little tighter as she cringed in pain.

"No." Sonic said firmly. Amy looked up at the hedgehog, who was looked right at her. "We're not dying."

"But…"

"No. We're going to be fine. I…Just don't know how right now…" he looked away and tried to hide the tears that were welling up in his eyes. Despite his outward confidence, Sonic too was scared witless of the entire situation. "I just don't know…"

Amy saw this and her heart sank. "Sonic…I didn't mean…"

"No, Amy, you're right…I shouldn't have dragged you along…I don't know what I was thinking…" Sonic set Amy down on the ground gently and moved himself the furthest corner of the small cave.

Amy, however, managed to get to her feet and sat herself next to Sonic. She grabbed his arm and leaned her head against it. "I'm sorry…I…I was being selfish…" She sobbed out, still very distressed.

Sonic stayed silent, but listened intently.

"It's just…I've never come so close to losing you…I'm just so scared…" She shut her eyes tight and buried her face into his shoulder.

Sonic looked over at Amy, who was now sobbing freely. He slowly turned and Amy let go of his arm. She looked up pitifully, and Sonic returned the same scared expression. He hugged her tightly, and Amy very quickly did the same.

"Amy, I'm here…I'm here to protect you…" He put a hand behind her head, and attempted to calm her sobbing. "This place…I don't think they would actually let us die in here…They couldn't…"

Amy lifted her head slightly so she could speak. "Then…Then why…why would they try?"

"I don't know…" Sonic replied shakily.

"That meteor shower…something like that just doesn't happen! It was only around where we were, or else the craters would be everywhere!"

"Amy, I don't know or care what they're doing…Right now, all I care about is that we're fine…You're fine…" Sonic looked into her eyes again. "I almost lost you, too…you could have easily broken something and drowned on that hill…"

The pink hedgehog looked at her love and began to realize what he was saying without saying it.

"Sonic…? Do you…?" Amy began to ask.

"Amy, please…just…I want quiet, please…" He embraced her a little tighter, and Amy complied, burying her face into his chest once again.

The two hedgehogs sat in each other's embrace, bruised, cut, and extremely distressed. Amy felt the slow breathing of her love, and was somewhat calmed. She wasn't thinking at all about trivial things such as infatuation anymore; her mind was occupied with more serious matters.

_Sonic…I love you so much…Never leave me…I…I don't know what I would do without you…You saved my life yet again…I…I owe you so much…I truly, sincerely love you…But…how are we going to survive? We haven't eaten today at all…We're horribly hurt with no supplies…We're stuck on a mountain…There's no way out…_

Amy cringed as her thoughts brought her what seemed like the inevitable truth.

_We're…We're not going to make it, are we…?_

She tightened her eyes once more.

_No…No, there has to be a way! At least for him…If only I could get him safely over this mountain, I don't care what happens to me…I just want him to be safe…To come out alive…_

The rain still hadn't let up, and it was very cold inside that cave. Despite this, and the fact that it was only around 4 pm, they slowly drifted to sleep together. Mainly due to the fact that they were exhausted.

And, despite the fact that their minds could have taken them away from the horror of losing each other, it only brought them closer to hell…


	7. Not All Hazards Are Physical

_Laziness plus Writer's block and/or party planning is a real pain, isn't it?_

_Chapter 7_

"_You know what I mean when I say we're more than just friends, don't you?"_

"…_Y-you don't mean you…"_

"_Yeah. That's right. We're friends. But you're a whiny bitch, and I regret ever saving you on that day long ago."_

"_W-what!?"_

"_You heard me. And you know what? You're never getting out of here alive."_

"_W-why would you s-say that!?"_

"_You're going to die. It won't be pleasant. I assure you. Now fuck off, I'm busy preparing your grave."_

Amy turned her head and tightened her eyes in her sleep.

"_Why…This can't be right…"_

"_It is, and you know it. If you would get those damn thoughts of 'love and romance' out of that dumbass head of yours, maybe you'd realize it."_

Sonic sighed in his sleep. Amy was brought to the very brink of consciousness, but not quite yet. Her eyes opened very slightly, and she could hazily see her surroundings despite still being asleep.

"_Take a look around…You may have survived here, but you're still screwed. You're stuck out here, starving, hurt, lost. You WILL die. There's no other way. Get that through your head already!!!"_

"No…" Amy mumbled quietly.

"_If you cared at all for me, you'd leave. I can make it on my own, unlike some. Now get your head out of your ass and move, bitch!!!"_

Amy woke up fully finally.

"Sonic…" She whispered gently, "…do you mean it?"

There was no reply from the sleeping hedgehog. Amy looked up at him with sleepy yet very concerned eyes. She saw that he was still bruised and cut, and the extreme soreness she felt on most of her body told her that she wasn't much better.

"…Just a dream…I hope…"

Amy laid her head gently back on the blue hedgehog's chest.

_Just a dream, he would never say any of those things…But…Some people say that a dream is a wish from the heart…Why would I wish him to be so mean?_

The pink hedgehog closed her eyes and sighed.

_Maybe it's not a wish…Maybe it's a sign. A sign that…Maybe I shouldn't have come along. If it weren't for me, Sonic could run through this place as quickly as lightning, and he wouldn't have to stop every time I blunder…_

She looked back up and her love's face.

_If it weren't for me, he wouldn't be hurt like he is…_

The girl looked at the wall of the small cave. In her mind, she was slowly beginning to believe that she was the reason things were going so wrong. Tears began to well up in her jade eyes, and she didn't feel well at all.

Eventually, she gently got herself up and walked to the entrance of the cave. She was met with the smell of wet dirt and grass, as well as a scene of odd beauty. From the ledge she stood, she could see the vast grassy plain they had started on, glistening with raindrops and morning dew. Strangely, she couldn't see a single trace of any meteors.

"At least it's a nice day…I shouldn't have any problems just trekking it alone…"

She looked back into the cave. There sat Sonic, sleeping, unaware of Amy's current disposition. The girl's heart sank as she knew she was leaving him. Amy slowly raised her hand to her mouth, gently kissed her fingertips, and blew her love a gentle kiss.

"So long…Sonikku…" Amy said aloud. She turned towards the path, and began to slowly walk.

"…My love…" The saddened girl whispered to herself. "May safety and joy stay with you…"

Slowly trudging up the path, Amy looked only at the ground. She ignored the blue sky, the sounds of birds chirping away, and the bright, welcoming sun. She ignored the gentle breeze that blew the sweet fragrance of mountain wildflowers at her. But most of all, she ignored her heart's desire to go back to be with Sonic, her one true love.

A tear struck the ground and glistened in the bright sunlight.

--

"Amy?"

Sonic was on his feet, and he stretched his arms and legs quickly.

"Amy, where'd ya go?"

He walked out into the sunlight and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly and took in the scenery.

"Where'd she go…?"

Sonic zipped up quickly to the main path. He looked around and couldn't see anything leading him closer to an answer.

"AMY!!!" The hedgehog cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out. "AMY!!!! WHERE ARE YOU!?"

Nothing but the tranquil sound of birds and a slight breeze answered.

"Hmm…Amy…"

Sonic looked around once more. His face lit up as he saw light tracks going further up the mountain. Seeing how she must have gone that way, the hedgehog followed the dirt road further up the mountain.

Going along at a moderate speed, the hedgehog made sure that he followed what tracks he could see. They weren't the most obvious marks in the world, but he could at least tell somebody had gone up the hill.

A short while later, Sonic caught the scent of something sweet smelling. He immediately knew what it was: raspberries.

"Oh, Amy's probably just over there hoping to get back before I wake up with a bunch of those berries…She IS really nice sometimes, I have to admit." The hedgehog said to himself with a smile. He walked toward the sweet aroma and soon found the source.

Sonic stood silent for a moment. There were no tracks anywhere near the bush, and it even looked like it hadn't been touched for quite some time. Needless to say, Amy wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Really…I would have thought that after we hadn't eaten for a while, she would have at least taken SOME…"

As he said that, however, the hedgehog noticed how hungry he himself was, and decided to enjoy his fill in the sweet berries. After finishing up, Sonic was still at a loss on where to find his friend.

"AMY!!!" He decided to try to scream for her again. "WHERE ARE YOU!?" There was no reply. "Damn…Where IS she?" Sonic said to himself as he set off again trying to locate Amy.

--

"AMY!!!"

The sound of the shout echoed around area. Amy's tears began to flow more profusely as she broke into a run.

"I'm so sorry Sonic…I'm so sorry…" Amy sobbed out as she ran faster and faster.

Rocks were kicked, dirt was churned, small flowers were stepped on. None of this was noted in the slightest; all she wanted was to rid Sonic of her burden.

_Sonic…Please, go back, I'm only doing this for your own good. I was so foolish to accept your offer like this, I should have known I would be useless…We're out of supplies, and quickly running out of time. Just please…I'm horrible; it's all my fault, so stop looking for me!!!_

Amy stepped on a rock that slipped out from under her. She stumbled, but continued her run. She banked around a turn and just barely avoided running straight off the edge.

_Just something tell him to leave me alone, tell him that I'm useless, because all I've ever done is annoy him, just blatantly never given up on him when he clearly doesn't want me. All I ever do is ruin things in his life, he has to save me at every other turn, and I do nothing for him in return other than bother him about such trivial things such as a date, a hug, a kiss, a promise for marriage…God, how could I be so goddamn STUPID!?_

Amy closed and tightened her eyes as hot tears flew behind her. Her body was pleading her to stop, but her mind didn't care about the bruises or cuts. Her mind did not care if she was tired when she started her run, all that mattered was getting away.

_Why do I have to be such an idiot? This hell, it's all my fault! If I said no, he wouldn't be in here either, he wouldn't be suffering, he would be perfectly fine and happy. But no, I just had to let him get into this. And to make it worse, I've just given him grief and suffering…I know it was just a dream, but Sonic was right there…I am a bitch. Nothing but a whiny, sniveling, bratty bitch who would do anything to-_

The pink hedgehog stepped on another rock that slipped out from under her feet. But this time, her knees buckled underneath her, and the poor girl came crashing to the ground.

Screaming in pain, she was covered in many new cuts and bruises. However, her mind wasn't changed.

"Must…Get…Away…" She seethed through her pain. Amy attempted to stand back up, but only collapsed a few inches ahead. Again and again she tried, but she was only barely inching her way up the path while hurting herself more and more.

She fell for the last time and lay on the ground, breathing heavily and painfully.

"Sonic…I'm so…s-sorry…" She sobbed out slowly and painfully. The hedgehog's clothes were torn and dirty, and all of her cuts were bleeding through the grated skin. Her lungs felt like fire and her limbs like pure pain.

Looking up weakly at the sunny, blue sky, she heard the slight sound of footsteps growing closer. Something was screamed, but she couldn't make it out. Things began to grow dark for her, and a figure loomed over her saying something quickly. She couldn't tell who it was or what it was they were saying; things were too blurry.

_Can you tell Sonic….?_

--

_It hurts, Sonic…Make it stop…Please, somebody, anybody…The pain…_

"Amy…!"

_Ohhh…God…It hurts…_

"Amy, please tell me you're ok…"

Amy shook her head weakly and mumbled an unintelligible reply. She mumbled it over and over again, as if in a trance.

"Amy, please, I want you to say something I can hear, anything…"

"…You…hate me…I know it…" Amy finally made out as her consciousness began to come back to her. She knew who was talking to her. She knew all too well.

"Oh god Amy, thank god you're alright…!" Sonic felt compelled to hug her, but caught himself in fear of hurting her.

Amy slowly opened her eyes. She was sitting at the side of a path on the mountain, underneath a tree. The sky was a vibrant orange and pink as the sun was setting, and the sound of crickets could be heard. No stars were out yet, but it was beginning to get cold already.

"Amy, I thought I lost you…Never scare me like that again…" Sonic's eyes were beginning to tear up a little.

Amy just looked at Sonic's actions indifferently. She would normally have been so happy to know he really did care that much, but she had convinced herself that her presence was nothing but a hinderance.

"Sonic…Leave." The pink hedgehog finally said with tears of her own. "Just leave me here…Please…"

Shocked, Sonic looked directly into her eyes. "Why would you say that!?" He almost screamed at her.

"I…I do nothing but hurt…You…Everything here…It's my fault. The reason you're hurt…The reason we haven't got any supplies left…"

"Amy, stop it. Stop that now." Sonic said firmly. "I don't want you thinking like that ANY more. Ever."

"But-"

"But nothing. The reason I'm ALIVE is because of you…You couldn't be more wrong, Amy."

"But I'm the reason-"

"That I love you?"

Amy was caught off guard and gasped. Sonic just looked at her, breathing heavily. The two looked into eachother's eyes for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, Amy decided to breakthe silence.

"D-did you just s-say…?"

"That's right…" The blue hedgehog promptly answered, "…I did. And I meant it."

Amy sat there, wide eyed, not sure of what to do.

"Amy…If it weren't for you, I'd be dead. You saved my life in that meteor shower, I could have been burned to death…And that river, I nearly drowned. If you hadn't have been there…" Sonic took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he tried to maintain his composure.

"S-sonic…" Amy attempted to start.

"Let me finish. I always tell you I don't love you for a very good reason, Amy. It's not because I don't…It's because I fear for you. If anyone were to find out, word would surely spread. If Eggman were to learn about that, you'd only be a constant target for him. I don't want that happening to ANYBODY…I hope you understand."

"…Sonic…How long? How long have you really loved me…?" Amy was a little more calm now, but still in disbelief that the current events were in fact real.

Sonic took a moment to think. "…A few months. It might have been longer than that, but that's when I really knew it was real, you know."

The two hedgehogs sat staring into eachother's eyes for a moment. The moon was rising in the sky, and it reflected in Amy's jade eyes beautifully. Her expression went from neutral to a soft smile slowly, and eventually she began to laughed softly. Sonic started to return her laugh, and the two embraced into a very tight hug.

Warm tears were slowly dripping down Amy's face, and her laughter increased. She didn't hurt any longer – in any sense.

Sonic let her joyously, his feelings out in the open now. He leaned his head back slightly and kissed Amy gently on the cheek. He then let go of Amy, and she followed suit. Sonic moved himself to next to her, and Amy instinctively held onto his arm and leaned her head onto his shoulder.

Sonic leaned his head against hers, and the two closed their eyes. "Amy…Please, you have to listen to me now though…"

"Anything, Sonic…" She dreamily replied, but was genuinely listening as well.

"I know…I know that you've been waiting for a moment like this for such a long time. But that doesn't mean we're not in danger still. We have to stay focused and alert to anything that could go wrong…" Sonic slowly ran a hand through her quills.

"Mmhmm…I understand…" Amy nuzzled gently into Sonic.

"I hope you really do, because this means we can't sit around and snuggle as much as you'd probably…well, both of us would probably like."

"But…What about now?" Amy innocently asked her love.

"Now…Now, we can do this…" Sonic put a hand on Amy's cheek and made her look at him for a moment. She was a bit confused at first, but the blue hedgehog just closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her lips tenderly.

Amy was a little surprised, but quickly melted into comfort as she returned the gesture. Sonic kept his forehead on hers, and closed his eyes.

"Amy…Please promise me you'll never see yourself as worthless. Never again." He whispered softly to her.

"I promise…but you have to promise to never leave me…to be my knight in shining armor, like you always have…" Amy whispered back.

"I'd have it no other way." Sonic smiled and kissed her again.

Amy giggled lightly. "How silly of me…" She nuzzled her forehead gently against her love's, who returned the favor.

Sonic looked up and saw the starry night sky, with a beautiful shining moon acting as a centerpiece. Amy looked up as well, and the two looked in awe for a moment.

"It's still beautiful…No matter where we are in this hell." Amy said a little shakily, but with an odd laugh.

Sonic looked at Amy, who was still looking at the sky. "As are your eyes." He whispered, looking at the shining stars' reflection in her jade eyes.

The pink hedgehog looked at Sonic with a small smile. "Now you're just trying to woo me over, aren't you?"

"Nah, it's true. I never got the chance to tell you last time." Sonic showed off his trademark smirk.

Amy just shook her head as her smile grew. "This is so odd…Being on the other end of the love. I never thought the day would come…"

"Well, it's what ya wanted, and I like to keep my friends happy." The blue hedgehog leaned in and kissed his love once more, but held it slightly longer this time.

He pulled back for but a moment, and kissed her again, this time pressing a little further into her. Amy felt something on her lips that wasn't there last time, however. It was the tip of a tongue, poking around, looking for a way in. She was a little hesitant, but the hedgehog opened her mouth a little wider to let Sonic continue, as well as to move her own tongue in. The two explored eachother's mouths through taste, all the while holding eachother very warmly and lovingly.

The two hedgehogs pulled away from eachother very slightly, and looked deeply into eachother's eyes. Sonic just hugged her tighter and leaned back into the mountain wall.

"Amy…"

"Sonikku, I love you so much…"

"…I love you too, Ames…"

There, under the starry sky, the two fell asleep in eachother's warm embrace without a single trouble in their minds.


End file.
